Darkness
by KitaKnowsBest
Summary: An almost-scary one-shot with the turtle tots and a haunted house. Centered around Michealangelo's experience. Tis cute, methinks.


As the moonlight poured into the city, it breathed with a restful sleep, the occasional vehicle streaming by in the rivers of streets. Tonight was especially bright, the full moon greeting the buildings with an ambition grin. Four miniscule figures hurried from shadow to shadow, dodging he moon's lighted stare. They feared that the very floating entity would notify their father of the current whereabouts if they crossed its path too many times. They approached the outskirts of the city, all staring up at a singular object. An old abandoned house sighed heavily as the four approached once more, knowing only that they would enter again tonight.

"It has eight legs and giant claws."

"I heard it only comes out at midnight to eat small children."

"It's strongest on the full moon, like a werewolf."

The four had started this back-and-forth the moment they left their home in the sewers, trying to top each other in describing the horrifying creature that they believed resided in the house. The one usually completely over the top with terrifying descriptions from the dark corners of his imagination and daytime movies was silent this time, painfully regretting every word. The four stopped at the end of the walkway.

"Alright, Mikey, ya ready?" One clad in red, Raphael, smirked.

"Um... I'm uh... not feeling too well." The small orange-clad figure said shakily, taking a step back.

"Come on, Mikey, both Leo and Raph did it. It's not too bad, just take the chalk and write your name in the closet of the big bedroom upstairs." Donatello, the small figure dressed in violet informed. "I would've made it too, but I fell through the floor." He had injured himself as well and was exempt from the rest of the challenge if he didn't tell their father what had happened.

"You're not scared, are ya Mikey?" Raphael taunted.

"No!" Mikey, the quivering one in orange protested loudly. "I'm not." Leo, the final figure, clad in blue, handed his sibling a small flashlight and the chalk.

"Good luck." He smiled genuinely. Mikey took is first few shakey steps toward the house, then looked back.

"Well?" Raph huffed indignantly. "You can give up now and we can go home. Ya know what losing the bet means, right?" Mikey shuddered and took a deep breath. He continued on into the house, the open door a dark maw ready to swallow him up.

"I can do it, Leo and Raph did it." He muttered to himself as he crossed the threshold, the door swinging shut behind him. It was dark.

Donatello turned to his brothers at the sound of Mikey's terrified yelp. "What do we do if he finds out that that neither of you actually made it to the closet?" He questioned.

"Please, if I couldn't make it, Mikey can't." Raph laughed confidently.

"I made it further than you did. Maybe Mikey'll make it."

"What do you mean by that?" Raph snapped at Leo. The two continued to bicker back and forth, stretching truth, calling names, all in good sport. Donatello sighed heavily and sat down on the front steps of the house.

Within the dark house, Mikey shuddered, every bit of confidence had flown away the moment the door swung shut, escaping before he could. He trembled as he turned on the flashlight. The beam was pathetically weak; Leo had forgotten to change the batteries. He managed to take a few steps into the living room of the dark house. Everything breathed before the small figure's eyes, rustling in the still air. He crept forward, determined not to lose the challenge. His courage faded as he traversed deeper into the dilapidated house. Each step screamed in his ears as the house protested the weight of the small turtle. He froze instantly at a sudden _chink-chink_ sound from somewhere in the front hall.

"H-hello?" He whimpered, the words sticking like peanut butter to his throat. Silence draped itself thickly across the room. "Hello?" He ventured again, louder this time. No response from the darkness. The seconds crawled by and his legs had reformed from the terrified jelly they had turned into. He began to acend the stairs, careful to avoid where Donatello had fallen.

Each step creaked loudly in protest, making the small figure jump at each sound. He swore he could hear breathing other than his own. His heart rushed his blood around his small frame so quickly, he feared it was making more racket that his steps on the decaying stairs. A second _chink-chink_ made him yelp in surprise. He lost balance and toppled down several of the steps, only saving himself from falling into the hole Donatello had created by grabbing hold of the banister in a last-ditch effort to save his balance. He breathed heavily pointing the shaky beam of the flashlight around wildly to find the source of the noise and to check if the creature had awakened. He finally angled the beam upward and saw the large chandelier hanging above his head. He let out a sigh of relief as it repeated the sound. No monster yet, but surely his commotion had woken the sleeping beast up? He continued up the stairs, holding the flashlight tightly so he may use it as a weapon if it came down to it.

He stopped at the top of the stairs to catch his breath and look for signs of the terrible creature in the house. The darkness was dead silent and his breath stuck to his throat as his heart continued to pound. A white mark on the wall next to him caught his eye. It was smudged and familiar, but his racing mind couldn't quite place it; it was irrelavant anyway. He slid down the hall as silently as he could manage and stopped at the door at the end of the hall. A second white mark caught his eye near the floor this time. He shuddered, believing it to be related to the monster.

The door to the master bedroom was closed. Fighting the urge to run away now, he reached up for the handle, expecting it to move on it's own. He held his breath and braced himself for something to pop out from behind the door. He clutched the handle, turned and shoved the door open.

The room was darker than the rest of the house. Mikey whimpered as the beam of his flashlight faded and extinguished at that moment. He fumbled for the wall and clung to it as a safety. All he had to do was make it to the closet, write his name, and then he could leave. "Don't stop now, you're so close." He urged himself softly as he crept forward. The closet door was open and he easily found the back wall of it and began to write, unable to see.

M...I...

At this moment, Mikey swore he heard breathing in the bedroom. His hand began to shake uncontrollably as he tried to hurry.

C...H...

It was getting closer. There was a creak, like a footstep. He panicked.

E...L...A...N...

Why did his name have to be so long? He felt tears of sheer terror well up in his eyes as he finished.

G...E...L...

Something behind him in the closet _thunked_. He dropped the chalk and flashlight and wheeled around. He could make out a large figure in the inky blackness. He shrieked in terror and bolted, rushing past the thing and stumbling, fumbling, sobbing, crying for the door. He panted heavily as he burst through the front door, making the other three jump in surprise. He latched onto his nearest sibling, sobbing in terror.

"S-S-Something's in there!! It almost got me!" He wailed. He was bruised and scratched from his mad dash for the door. Leonardo pried his brother off of him.

"There's no real monster, Mikey." He assured, placing his hands on Mikey's shoulders.

"Um... Leo? Are you sure?" Donatello's shaky voice questioned. Leo looked up at the dark house. A figure was moving about in the dark maw of the house. There was a moment of complete silence, then the four shrieked and fled as fast as their small legs could carry them, hurrying back to the safety of their own home. A large rodent stood in the doorway as the four disappeared from sight.

"They won't be sneaking out for a while after this." Master Splinter smiled to himself, and headed home.


End file.
